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Disruption of plastid acyl:acyl carrier protein synthetases increases medium chain fatty acid accumulation in seeds of transgenic Arabidopsis
Author(s) -
Tjellström Henrik,
Strawsine Merissa,
Silva Jillian,
Cahoon Edgar B.,
Ohlrogge John B.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2013.02.021
Subject(s) - plastid , arabidopsis , thioesterase , biochemistry , acyl carrier protein , transgene , mutant , fatty acid , enzyme , acyl group , arabidopsis thaliana , chemistry , biosynthesis , biology , gene , chloroplast , alkyl , organic chemistry
Engineering transgenic plants that accumulate high levels of medium‐chain fatty acids (MCFA) has been least successful for shorter chain lengths (e.g., C8). We demonstrate that one limitation is the activity of acyl‐ACP synthetase (AAE) that re‐activates fatty acids released by acyl‐ACP thioesterases. Seed expression of Cuphea pulcherrima FATB acyl‐ACP thioesterase in a double mutant lacking AAE15/16 increased 8:0 accumulation almost 2‐fold compared to expression in wild type. These results also provide an in planta demonstration that AAE enzymes participate not only in activation of exogenously added MCFA but also in activation of MCFA synthesized in plastids.